2014 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Gevrey Chambertin 750 ml

A Perfect Cellar-Builder: Gevrey-Chambertin

When Romain Taupenot was 12 years old, he helped his grandfather sell their family wines as a part of a caravan camped out on Burgundy’s iconic Route Nationale 74—but that is not the story here. Neither is the fact that Romain went to business school, then abandoned that world after a decade to manage his family’s estate.

The story with the 2014 Taupenot-Merme Gevrey-Chambertin, to be honest, is much simpler: This Pinot Noir had us shaking our heads, shocked not to see “Premier Cru” on the label, and thrilled to taste this kind of classic Burgundy quality in a Village wine—albeit one from a village that boasts some of the most impressive properties in all of France. It is a complex Pinot Noir, showing black cherry, licorice, vanilla, clove, and crème caramel, all framed by tightly packed tannins. For any Old World Pinot lover, this is a cellar-builder of the first order.

It’s true about Romain selling the wines on Route Nationale 74, and today—20 years after he took the reins at his Taupenot-Merme estate—the wines they once sold from their car to tourists grace the wine lists at venerated establishments like Proof in DC, NoMad in LA, and Michael Mina’s paean to Burgundy, RN74 in Seattle.

Part of this success is because of the changes that Romain made: The business-school graduate—who never missed a harvest, even when he was working in finance—converted the estate to organic farming in 2001, and he preached the gospel of Taupenot wines globally, gaining the tiny label adoring fans on every continent.

But much of the winemaking success of Taupenot-Merme is due to the changes that Romain resisted. He uses native yeasts, no enzymes, and no additives, eschewing the next-generation instinct to change and outsmart tradition. “I have learned to stay behind my wines,” he says. “I think today that great wines have this ability to surpass themselves in time and that the intervention must be minimalist to guarantee their authenticity.”

Romain’s commitment to authenticity follows him into the cellar, where he refuses to push extraction, and uses modest amounts of new oak—making his vibrant Gevrey-Chambertin complex, yet wonderfully enjoyable at an early age. His 2014 Gevrey-Chambertin shows the light touch of an expert winemaker, and the charms of one of Burgundy’s most renowned villages. The perfect wine for when the occasion calls for a fine Burgundy, and you’re still patiently waiting for your Grands Crus to reach optimal age.